Psychological therapy is the process of understanding, treating, and maintaining a healthy psyche. Psychological therapy comes in many shapes and sizes. Different methods of therapy include but are not limited to cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, psychoanalytic therapy, group therapy, and humanistic therapy. Most of these major therapeutic options fall under the umbrella of “talk therapy”. Although talk therapy is effective, practicing talk therapy exclusively limits not only the capabilities of therapy, but also potential clientele who would benefit from alternatives to talk therapy. Because each psyche is as unique and individual as fingerprints, each person seeking therapy should be able to create a personalized therapy program. Generating unique combinations of various therapy methods that are catered specifically to the client is a way to achieve this lofty goal. This research intends to better understand whether this proposal of combining various therapeutic techniques and methods in order to achieve individualized therapy programs will increase the effectiveness of the therapy being administered. In this meta analysis, the focus will be on animal therapy and poetry therapy used in conjunction theoretically as an example of potential applications for various combinations in conjunctive therapy. Conjunctive therapy is the main idea being piloted in this thesis and is a new form of therapy that involved the usage of two therapeutic techniques together while maintaining and equal prevalence and importance between them.

In this anthology, I will delve into two spheres of my personal and professional life: how my gender has inhibited my authority in the workplace, and how my gender has impacted the assumptions others make of my aptitude and worth. In each entry, I explore the intersection of poetry and literary criticism regarding internalized gendered assumptions. My headnote offers questions to consider upon reading each poem, and I have taken techniques and examples from Mary Oliver’s handbook on writing poetry, to then offer my own poem in response. Finally, I then analyze relevant scholarship to the gender-based issue I am referencing, alongside a personal explanation of how this issue materializes in my poems.

The present study examined Mexican American females’ perspectives on childbearing and marriage and the role of cultural influences on their perspectives given high rates of pregnancy and early marriage among Mexican and Mexican American females in the U.S. and worldwide. Participants were ten Mexican American females between 20 and 22 years of age who participated in qualitative interviews about their perspectives on marriage and childbearing and how their Mexican cultural background, including their upbringing, family members, peers, and the media influenced their perspectives. Findings highlight that there is indeed a connection between Mexican culture and perspectives on marriage and childbearing amongst participants, and participants particularly noted the role of female family members, stereotypes, and educational pursuits in shaping their perspectives.